HERTSPaul Larpenteur

Lee Murphy

CSE 403 – Sp 2003

Hearts Experimental Remote Transportable System

HERTS

What is it?

• HERTS is a multi-player, cell-phone based version of the classic card game Hearts.

• Each player will be able to see what cards they have by looking at their cell phone’s screen.

• A new unique multi-player game for cell-phones that is not just a memory or reflex tester.

HERTS

Who wants it and why?

WHO:• Children • Teens• Adults• Everyone!!!

WHY:• A fun game to play.• You can play against

other humans instead of computer AI.

• Play Hearts with your friends when you are apart.

HERTS

Architecture

Server

Client

Client

Client

Client

Messaging

GUIMessaging

Game Logic

Modules:

• Client

Contains GUI & User commands, but no real game logic.

• Server

Contains Game Logic and player scores.

• Messaging

Communicates between Client & Server. Handles TCP connections.

HERTS

Support & Distribution

• HERTS requires a server administrator to keep the HERTS server running.

• If enough people started playing HERTS, additional servers would be needed to handle the load.

• If an upgrade required changing the midlet code, there must be some way to notify users and provide them the new midlet.

HERTS

Risks

• Display size on current phones limits the complexity of displayable information.

• Our HERTS game may quickly become obsolete due to rival development teams with more time and resources available.

• If demand is not high, our time and effort may be wasted.

HERTS

Future Expansions

• AI: Play against 1, 2, or 3 AI’s and your friends.

• Improved graphics/displays for new cell phones.

• Additional card games besides Hearts.

HERTS

Feasibility

• No cell phones we observed had any four-player game available, so HERTS is unique and desirable.

• HERTS is easily modularized into Client, Server, and Messaging components.

• TCP/IP message interfaces are easy to implement in Java.

• HERTS is a good first step into multi-user cell phone environments.We recommend proceeding with this project.